The Twilight Saga: Esme's POV
by dogsrplayful
Summary: This is the Twilight Saga and slightly before and slightly after in Esme's POV. As with my other Twilight stories, Life after Breaking Dawn and A Perfect Couple, please leave a review so I can improve the story. Enjoy! - Temporarily on hiatus -
1. Chapter 1

The Twilight Saga, Esme's POV

I'm Esme Cullen, wife of the gorgeous Dr. Carlisle Cullen.

I only remember the last bit of my human life. I was in the hospital, and I had given birth to a beautiful baby boy. A few hours after his birth, he stopped breathing.

I remember the glory and victorious feeling of giving birth to a beautiful baby, let alone a beautiful baby boy. I had longed for a boy for years; to finally have a baby boy was a relief. Then he stopped breathing, and I remember the crushing feeling of depression, the reluctance to accept it at all. I held my precious baby for hours, until his corpse became cold and I was forced to accept reality. My baby…my angel…and all the plans I had mapped out for him! The doctors noticed the beginning signs of suicidal depression, and kept me in the hospital for a few days extra. Eventually, I was released, and I knew what I was going to do. I went to a cliff edge, the first I found, and jumped.

When I landed, I actually tried to die. I couldn't believe that my fall hadn't broken my neck, and I internally cursed myself for not diving headfirst. Carlisle was there in a matter of minutes, even before the ambulance arrived. I opened my eyes when I felt his breath on my neck, and I thought I had died. His face was contorted with a mixture of awe and worry, and I loved him instantly. He picked me up, and ran to the big house where he lived with Edward. As he opened the door, I saw Edward's face, speaking hurriedly to Carlisle. I felt myself being laid down on a bed, and then Carlisle's face was there. "I'm sorry for this" he whispered to me, then bit my neck as gently as a bite could be. His smooth tongue washed over the wound, sealing it shut, and then he licked the millions of other scrapes I'd gotten from my fall. The skin mended itself over where Carlisle had licked it, and then the pain began. I locked my teeth together to avoid screaming and making this angel feel guilty, and I waited to die.


	2. Chapter 2

I managed not to scream as the fire of the venom burned me. I closed my eyes, marveling at Carlisle's smooth fingers stroking my hand. Edward passed through the room now and then, occasionally stopping to watch as I lay there, twitching constantly, although not screaming. I could feel the fire, working its way through my body. When it finally receded, I thought I was in hell. _Maybe heaven_, I thought when I opened my eyes. I could see every dust note, every glimmer perfectly fine. I felt Carlisle's previously cold touch, now slightly warm.

"Are you all right?" he asked me gently. I smiled and nodded happily. It only took a matter of milliseconds, and I was surprised at my speed.

"I'm sorry; Esme, but you're a vampire now. We feed on animal blood, although some of us feed on humans." Carlisle told me.

"Why did you save me?" I asked this angel, slightly surprised at my ringing bell chime voice. Carlisle's golden eyes softened, and he gently picked up both of my hands. My heart would have reacted, except it wasn't beating anymore. "Because I love you" he murmured gently.

"I love you, too" I whispered. Carlisle pulled me onto my feet, then moved his hands to wrap around my waist. Trying to move with his gentleness, I wrapped mine around his neck. His smooth, soft lips touched mine, and I kissed him back. I have no idea how long we kissed, but eventually Carlisle pulled away. He slid his lips over my cheek to whisper in my ear, "Let's hunt. You must be thirsty." Only then did I feel the burning parchedness of my throat that now dominated my nerves. No longer able to speak, I nodded. Carlisle took my hand, and we sprinted into the forest to hunt.

Carlisle and I laid down on the bed every night together, but one night was different. That night, Carlisle and I slept together. He took my hand and pulled me into a bedroom with a large, white bed. I walked over to the opposite side that he was standing at, and crawled in. "Since we can't sleep, we have the whole night to ourselves. Edward studies, listening to music in his room." Carlisle murmured as I slid closer to this newfound boyfriend. He wrapped his arms closely around my waist, and pressed his sort-of-warm body to mine. Carefully, I pulled away. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I didn't want to sleep together, so to speak. "I don't want to become pregnant again" I half sobbed quietly. Carlisle slid closer to me again, wrapping his arm around my waist. With his other hand, he stroked my forehead gently. "Esme, love, you can't become pregnant. Nor can your body accept anything but blood. Our bodies have been drained of liquid." He lowered his head down to mine, and kissed me. His hands slid to my cheeks, and then gently moved down my neck as my continued to kiss. They slid down my shoulders, slipping off my shirt, then pants. He moaned a sound of pleasure, low in his throat. I wrapped my arms around his neck, then unbuttoned his shirt. I nearly gasped as I caught a glimpse of his perfectly carved muscles, set neatly in his chest and stomach. Carlisle moaned again, and this time our bodies could not resist. In seconds, all of our clothes were ripped. Pressing myself in closer, I settled into a happy night.


	3. Chapter 3

I didn't even realize that the whole night had passed until an alarm went off right next to me. Carlisle raised his face from mine for the first time in hours, sighed, and gently pressed his lips (and hips) to mine. "Time to go to work" he sighed. "Since it's a school day, you can pretend to be a mother to the outside world. We'll get married, and we adopted Edward. Edward's in his room, you can go talk to him. I'll see if I can get a half day off." Carlisle sighed again, bent his face to kiss me, then walked over to the closet. Suddenly, he straightened up a little more. He spun around, and I gasped at seeing his whole body uncovered. I let my eyes trail slowly up his body as he stood near our closet. "Gorgeous, do you want to try coming to my work with me?" he asked me happily. How could I possibly disappoint that gorgeous face? Carlisle's face suddenly lost some of his excitement. "Hm…maybe that's not a good idea. The eyes…the thirst…"Carlisle turned and walked over to the window. He straightened up considerably as he looked out. "It's sunny!" he cried triumphantly. I was confused. What was so important about it being sunny? Of course, sun _was_ rare in the cloudy town of Forks. But still, what was so important? If Carlisle liked the sun that much, then he could have moved to a sunnier city. Carlisle turned around and my mouth dropped open. It was as though his skin was covered in millions of tiny diamonds, sparkling in the sun. "We can't go out in the sun" he explained to me. As my mouth remained open, Carlisle's look became worried. "What is it, love?" he asked me. I strained to get my mouth to work. "You" I whispered, and locked my mouth onto his. Carlisle chuckled, and kissed me a moment longer before raising his head. "Edward, no school today" he said in a calm voice, no louder than a human's conversation voice. Edward would probably hear it, despite the fact the Carlisle was speaking through two shut doors, across a hallway, and over a stereo that was playing. "And don't come in here, either!" he added, and then my love Carlisle jumped back into bed with me.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, we weren't as lucky. It was raining in the small, cloudy Forks. Carlisle kissed me, and then left. I meanwhile, left the room to check on Edward. "Good morning, Esme." Edward said as I entered his room. "What do you want to do, when Carlisle's at work and I'm at school?" Hmm…that was weird. I'd been thinking about exactly the same thing.

"I-I'm not sure." I replied, wondering if he could read minds.

"Yes, I can 'hear' minds. I already know what you think of me - as your son. No, I don't have a crush, nor girlfriend, nor do I intend to get one as far as I can tell." Edward said, as I in response to my thoughts. Actually, it probably was in response to my thoughts. My vampire "son" (as I thought of him), smiled and turned around when I started mentally wondering what he looked like. HE had a beautiful face, a casual, slightly handsome disarray of hair, and the same amber eyes as Carlisle. As Edward brushed past me on his way to school, I noticed that his skin wasn't as warm as Carlisle's, but merely the same temperature as mine. I heard Edward's quick footsteps going down the stairs, then out the door. I heard the garage door open, and two cars start up, Carlisle's then Edward's. I turned to face my son's room, and carefully evaluated it. There were CDs everywhere, although the room still managed to look neat. The racks were along the walls, which were hung with a dark, heavy fabric. Hmm. I wondered what that was for. "GOOD ACOUSTICS!" I heard Edward yell as he followed Carlisle's car out of the garage. Well, that problem solved, then. There was a modern stereo on a table against one of the two only walls without CD racks, and a sofa against the other wall. There were a few books scattered on the floor, and I assumed he'd been reading or studying them at night. From the distance I was standing at, I could clearly read every tiny word on every page. I was surprised when I learned the titles of the books. They were textbooks on Arabic, German and Portuguese. Well, that was what Edward did at night, I guessed. Now I had to figure out what I was going to do during the day.


	5. Chapter 5

I felt slightly guilty about having Carlisle spend his money on me, and I wanted to pay him back somehow. Memories of our night came back to me, and I got an idea. Carlisle had mentioned something about getting married to me, sometime during the night. If I were to organize it, then it would save him the trouble. To the outside world, I would be a stay at home mom. Carlisle and I would get married, and to the humans, we wouldn't be as different. A family –the Cullen family- with an adopted child was normal. It made sense.

I started planning Carlisle's and my own wedding, mostly when neither Carlisle nor Edward was home. It took up all of the leftover time between when Edward left for school and when Carlisle came home from work. Carlisle had rearranged his work schedule so that he left early, at about five in the morning, and came home earlier, at about two in the afternoon. Edward left for school, which begun at eight thirty, only a few minutes before his first class, and I could understand why he was never late. Edward didn't come back until about three thirty or four in the after noon, which left Carlisle and I about two to three hours to ourselves without being worried about disturbing him. Whatever we were doing that day, we never stopped when Edward arrived, only got less loud in our activities. When Edward came home, as far as I knew, he did his homework (which he finished instantly, due to his having completed the courses before, and also due to his faster fingers) and then studied more languages. Sometimes, he went downstairs to play the piano, and I would persuade Carlisle to come and listen with me to whatever Edward was playing. I chose a pretty song to be my favorite, and Carlisle agreed with me, at least that it was pretty. Carlisle never mentioned what his favorite was, and nor did Edward. Edward merely played what it was that was on his mind, or my favorite when he caught me thinking about it.

Life basically went on as normal, in the same daily pattern with occasional hunting trips, until Carlisle brought home a surprise.


	6. Chapter 6

The surprise was a girl. Not just any girl, but a human girl. She was extraordinarily beautiful, and with her warm blood everywhere, she smelled especially appetizing.

"Careful, Esme" Carlisle warned me as he went on to bite this girl at her wrists, neck, and ankles. I could hear what he tried to hide in his voice, the fact that she was for Edward. He loved being in a relationship, and was unhappy that Edward couldn't find someone. Edward had gone off for a while on his own, too – he wasn't as accustomed to saving human lives as Carlisle. He came back soon enough, though – before I'd had a chance to go looking for him. Carlisle was happy, as was I, although I was unhappy that he didn't find anyone he wanted. I hoped as bad as Carlisle did that this girl, extraordinarily beautiful, would be Edward's girl, finally. But while Carlisle was changing her, I saw Edward appear at the top of the stairs; looking bored, he glanced at the girl. He then disappeared back into his room, and I heard the music play again, revived from its short pause. Apparently, he was more interested in his studies than the girl. I sighed. There _must_ have been something missing. Maybe he was too young when he was changed, frozen forever at seventeen. I could tell that Carlisle was trying very hard not to think of his intents with the girl, for fear of exposing himself and his worry to Edward. It was so kind, so Carlisle, to try to hide his worry for his son. The girl, now laying on the couch, screamed as Carlisle's teeth cut her skin, again and again. "I'm so sorry, it was the only way to save you" Carlisle nearly moaned to her, now sitting by her side. His face was twisted with his anguish that came with his hurting other creatures, human or not. At some point, Edward came downstairs. It was near the end, I could her from her suddenly racing heart. At some point, the girl, Rosalie, had stopped screaming. She seemed to realize that it did no good to scream, that the change was happening regardless. Every time, getting rarer, she shrieked, Carlisle apologized, and his face twisted. I was now watching through the window, not able to stand Rosalie's blood. That's how I saw when Edward came down the stairs. Unruffled by the glass between us, I could hear everything he said.

"Carlisle! Rosalie Hale?" he asked, surprise lighting up his features.

"I couldn't let her go to waste. It was too much." Carlisle replied in a small voice, barely a whisper.

"I know. Well, what are we going to do with her?" Edward said with a sigh, and then a particular grimace flashed across his face. Obviously, he'd heard what I was thinking, about Rosalie being for him, and Carlisle glared. I apologized with my eyes, and Carlisle sighed. "Forgiven" he mouthed at me. Rosalie stretched on the couch, and flipped off. I finally found that Carlisle had cleaned up the blood, and I was able to come in again. Rosalie looked at Edward's boring face, looking at her as though he didn't even notice her. Her face became almost angry, and dashed upstairs. Knowing her human life, it was probably to find a mirror. Hearing her thoughts, Edward's face grew angry, and I sighed. Nope, Rosalie was not for him.


	7. Chapter 7

Rosalie, when asked, decided to stay with us, committed to Carlisle's vision. She did leave one night, and Edward told Carlisle what he had seen in her head.

"She's going to murder them. The humans who hurt her." He muttered to Carlisle when he came home from school one day. Edward had knocked gently on our door, and I sighed with relief that we hadn't been doing anything that required us to be without clothing. Then again, Edward had probably seen what we were doing through our minds, and it wasn't that important. We had only been discussing our plans, fantasies, and expectations for our wedding. When Edward entered (after a gentle knock, like the gentleman he was) and told Carlisle of Rosalie's plans, I could hear the anguish in Carlisle's voice. I couldn't bear to look at Carlisle as Edward told of Rosalie's plans, to see the pain that was suddenly etched there.

"I suppose" Carlisle said slowly, unwilling to accept the words even as he spoke them, "I suppose she's justified in it. Don't mention it to her, though. Nor mention it to Esme to myself, for that matter." Naturally he would be worried about me. That was simply Carlisle. Suddenly, Edward's face became ferocious.

"Do you know what she's done?" he fumed to Carlisle. "She _stole a wedding dress just for this! _Well, just for her fiancée's death, at least. She'll kill the others first, save him for last. She's taking care of the first death today, and one more every other day. She also stole the wedding dress today. But she doesn't intend to tell Esme-" Edward flicked a glance in my direction, and I knew that he wasn't intentionally talking just to Carlisle; he just didn't think I'd care. However, he was too much a gentleman to exclude me completely. "-Or you, Carlisle, for that matter. She doesn't know of my…abilities." Edward smiled wryly at the last word.

There was a silence as Carlisle absorbed this information.

Suddenly, Edward hissed. "She's back. You don't know anything" he said, throwing a panicked glance at me and Carlisle. "She'll destroy my car. She knows I love it." Edward said to my confused expression, the same expression that was probably on Carlisle's, seeing as I still couldn't bear to look at his face. "And, of course, keep my secret, please, because I enjoy listening to her. For now, her vanity is entertaining. And I can warn you of her plans." Edward chuckled. Rosalie opened the door then and Edward froze. Rosalie's breathtaking face was contorted in a mask of fury. Did she know that Edward had listened? Obviously. When he told us, Edward was oblivious to the pair of listening ears outside the door – he was too entertained by her vanity. I almost felt sorry for his car. What a waste of money. Poor Edward.


	8. Chapter 8

Edward was right. Rosalie stomped straight into the garage and Carlisle leapt up. I was sure his concern was not for the car, but for his – our – son's feelings. I was concerned too, but stayed to talk to Edward. I could hear Carlisle and Rosalie arguing; Carlisle's voice was a gentle, pleading murmur, Rosalie's was close to a hiss. I turned to Edward. "She knows" I said, sympathy on my face. Edward sighed.

"I know."

"Sorry."

"You didn't do anything. It was me."

I sighed. _What a gentleman_, I thought. _Stop taking the blame on yourself._ I couldn't help the next thought that flashed through my mind. _I can't believe you haven't found anyone yet._ Edward's face became solid and determined. "I'm complete in myself. I don't need anyone." he replied. I sighed. _What a masochist, _I thought with a slight hint of sympathy and affection. _You have no idea what you're missing._ To distract himself from my thoughts, probably, he sat down and started playing the piano. Probably not coincidentally, the first piece he played was my favorite. It was unnamed, as far as I could tell. I sat in the couch, closing my eyes and listening to Edward play until Carlisle entered again. I snuggled up in his side when he sat down on the couch. He wrapped his arm around my waist, watching Rosalie as she stomped up the stairs. "Health of the car is...?" I whispered when she was out of sight. "Saved" Carlisle whispered back. I grinned, and he smiled back. Suddenly, he sighed. "She's set on the murders, though. As I thought, she wants revenge. And I can tell she's jealous from Edward not wanting her." Carlisle masked his concern from his voice well, but I could tell that he was worried about Edward. I only knew because of the talks we had when Edward wasn't back yet; Edward was usually the topic during those times. I met his eyes, and could practically read what he was thinking. Even though he hid it in his eyes, his worry was probably _not_ hidden in his mind. The music cut off suddenly, and Edward looked up the stairs. "Crap. My stereo's death is not what I'm looking forward to." My son slid of the bench, and rushed upstairs to save his precious sound system. I wished he was as crazy about a girl, though.


	9. Chapter 9

Life went on as usual in the Cullen house. Carlisle and I got married, not in an eye-catching way. We had a small, classical wedding. For our honeymoon, Carlisle revealed his surprise gift to me-not just the ring, but an island! He called it Isle Esme, and it was where we went for our honeymoon. Edward would soon go there for his honeymoon (hopefully he would fall in love) and Rosalie would, too. Rosalie was a much better candidate for having a wedding than Edward, because she came home with a surprise of her own one day.

Carlisle and I were simply quietly discussing wedding plans for Rosalie and Edward, who were hunting. Not together of course, since Edward claimed that Rosalie kept up a steady stream of insults in her head. They preferred to hunt in different areas. Suddenly, the front door banged open. "Carlisle!" Rosalie shrieked, her voice revealing more agony than I'd ever heard. Carlisle instantly jumped up from where he was sitting, and raced downstairs. I smelled it, too, the blood…the human blood. I couldn't stand disappointing Carlisle, and jumped out the window. I slipped over to the big side window, where I could catch glimpses of the massive man that Rosalie laid down on the couch. He was covered in blood-how could Rose stand that close to him without drinking his blood? Carlisle's patience was less of a surprise for me; he'd told me that he'd perfected it in order to work in the blood-covered hospital. "This is Emmett" Rose explained to Carlisle in a fast, panic-soaked voice. "There was a bear mauling him, about to finish him off. I wasn't sure if I could do it myself. Change him, please, Carlisle!" Her last sentence sounded as though she was about to fall on her knees and beg. I heard Edward's quiet footsteps behind me, and then his smirk. "Pathetic" he muttered. "Two minutes ago, she was mentally groaning about this life. Now she's asked Carlisle to change someone for her!" Rosalie heard Edward's voice, turned, and glared. Edward grinned wider, probably in response to Rose's thoughts. I could see the effort that it took Rose not to sprint after Edward now, and with more effort, she turned back to Emmett, shaking slightly with anger.

Rosalie sat beside Emmett the whole time he was changed. When he was a vampire, the first thing he and Rose did was kiss. Carlisle, me, and even Edward turned our faces away. It looked like it was going to escalate at any time. "This is your room, Rose…Emmett." Carlisle said, showing them Rosalie's room; and therefore saving us from further nausea. I sighed, wishing that the same thing would happen to Edward. But it wouldn't. Get on with life, Esme.


	10. Chapter 10

Apparently, Rosalie and Emmett were forgetting about other activities. At night, everyone in the house (and probably for a few miles around) heard disturbing noises coming from their room. The noises continued all through the day, too, except for every now and then when they exited their room to hunt. Once they did that, they usually wouldn't return for the rest of the day. No one doubted or mentioned what they were up to, but we suspected that it wasn't all hunting. Edward carefully planned his hunting trips so that he didn't hunt on the days that they were in the forest. Eventually, they started to smell-REALLY bad. Not that vampires get sweaty, but dirt accumulates. I decided to put planning skills to the test, and built them a house. After they got married, they moved in. It took me a week to clean their room to the point where it no longer smelled horrible. Unfortunately, that was also the week that the house collapsed. Edward, Carlisle and I heard the sound of it collapsing one day. Edward sighed, and turned to me. "Can you build another house, Esme? I can't _stand_ their thoughts." _Oh dear. Here we go again,_ I sighed mentally. Carlisle sighed.

I built another house, which also collapsed. And I built another, and another. Eventually, I decided to just tell them to stay, IF they showered. After a solid decade from when Emmett was changed, they finally were like the rest of us. The disturbing noises finally quieted, as well. Not completely, but at least it wasn't as distracting. Edward also got to the point where he could hunt with Emmett, but he still couldn't stand Rosalie. I couldn't blame him for that. I still mentally criticized him for not hunting with her, but he could hear the undertone in my thoughts. If Rosalie's thoughts were worse than the way she acted….then I felt sorry for him.

Emmett and him were hunting one day when Carlisle, Rosalie and I heard footsteps approaching. "Carlisle! What's that?" I hissed timidly. Glancing at his face, I could see that it was also a mask of fear and worry. He skittered over to the wall, and pushed a button. The glass walls were instantly covered with metal, a feature that he'd told me about at one point. The metal was the strongest of the human kind. The button was one that Carlisle had installed himself, to protect from prying human eyes on sunny days. I mentally noted where the button was for future reference. The sound of flight was coming closer and closer…


	11. Chapter 11

The light footsteps were easily distinguishable from the heavier footsteps just ahead. We could now hear voices-a woman vampire's voice and a deeper man's voice.

"How will they react, Alice?" the deeper voice asked.

"I can't see yet. They haven't make steel decisions, but right now it's on the border of aggressive and full-fledged attack. They can hear us right now." replied the higher, chiming voice. How could she, first, possibly know that we were planning an attack. Secondly, how could she talk so calmly about a future attack on herself and her traveling friend?!

"We come in peace, Cullens!" the deeper voice called to us as he and the woman appeared out of the trees. His face was covered in scars, and Rosalie, Carlisle and I instantly tensed. The deep voiced vampire smiled dryly, but it was the female who spoke.

"Hello, Esme!" she called out as she stepped into the room. "Hello Carlisle! Hello Rosalie. Where are Emmett and Edward?" Everyone in the room except for these newcomers tensed, our lips pulling back over our teeth. How did she know us?

"Which room can I move into?" the female chimed again, bounding over to the stairs. We could all hear Edward and Emmett racing back, Edward having been alerted by our minds. In a few seconds, Emmett was at the door. Since he was hunting closer, he was naturally the first to arrive. Emmett instantly moved to guard Rosalie from view, who smacked him on the shoulder, irritated.

"I can take care of myself, Em" she growled. He snorted, and didn't move.

"We come in peace, Cullens" the deeper voice said again. "I'm Jasper, and this is my mate, Alice." Ok, so Alice was the one who knew all of us. She closed her eyes, standing perfectly still for a second. Then, she opened her eyes again.

"OK Jasper, I see which room will be ours!" she chirped. "Nice meeting you, Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie, and Emmett. I can't wait to meet Edward. He'll be my favorite brother!" she chirped before heading upstairs to clean out the room that would be hers. Jasper smiled, and remained downstairs.

"What is she _doing?_" Carlisle muttered as we saw the little pixie dash into the garage, armloads of someone's stuff in her tiny arms.

"That's Edward's stuff! I hope she's kicking him out," Rosalie said, muttering the last part to herself. Carlisle put a gentle hand on her shoulder,and Rosalie shook it off.

"Alice can see the future" Jasper was explaining. "She saw me in her future apparently, and when we met, we decided to come to you, who she'd seen in a vision." Carlisle and I were exchanging confused glances.

"And I'm empathic. I can feel what you are feeling now" Jasper announced.

"OK, then what am I feeling?" Carlisle challenged, stepping forward. Jasper looked like he was barely concentrating.

"That one's easy, your emotions are filling me so fully. For the most part, Carlisle, you're shocked and confused. And you're still a little tense. Did I tell you, I can not only feel your emotions, but I can control them too?"

Rosalie was the next to step forward. "Make me feel something" she challenged. Jasper thought for a moment then grinned. Rosalie's face contorted to pure anger.

"WHAT IS ALICE DOING?!" she shrieked. Jasper grinned again,and her expression turned to adoring. She turned to Emmett, whose arm she was clutching.

"Aww Emmett, I love you so much" she cooed. I pretended to gag, to tell Jasper to stop before it could escalate right in the living room, which it did all too often. Jasper sighed. Obviously he'd been enjoying himself.

Alice darted down the stairs again, carrying yet another armload of Edward's stuff. What _was_ she doing? Obviously, moving out Edward's stuff. Eventually, the petite vampire stopped moving armloads of stuff downstairs, and Carlisle and I decided to see what was going on. We walked up the stairway, moving casually at a human pace.

"Hmm...should we stop her?" Carlisle murmured to me as we walked up the stairs, holding hands. I giggled.

"No, I don't think so. I can't wait to see his face when he sees this" I giggled back.

"Think of something else, then" Carlisle murmured, smiling at the mental image of Edward's face when he saw his precious sound system in the garage. I started thinking about the renovations that I wanted to do to the house. Maybe add a garden, and hedges along the sides of the road to make the turnoff less obvious. You see, we didn't really want visitors...

Carlisle and I stopped at the door that was previously Edward's. It took all of my concentration to remember my renovation ideas.

"Come on" I giggled to Carlisle. "I can't hold up much longer." Right on cue, we started to hear the faint sounds of Edward, racing back to the house. Carlisle and I turned, each grabbing a book on the way downstairs. I changed my thought path quickly, switching to the plot of the novel that I was currently reading. I glanced at the book in Carlisle's hand, and noted that it was a medical reference. Not that he'd ever need it, seeing as he rembered every lesson froom medical school...

I switched back to the plot of the book in my hands, opening it to the page number that I was on before. I didn't need to mark my page, of course.

"Hello, son" I heard Carlisle murmur absently.

"Hi, Carlisle" Edward replied, sounding slightly confused. I refused to think about the fact that we were shielding our minds, because if I did, all our efforts went down the drain.

"I'll be in my room" Edward called walking by. I stiflied a giggle, and turned my full attention back to my book. As soon as Edward was out of the room, however, I set it down on a side table. I looked across the living room, to find that Carlisle had done the same thing. My husband winked, holding out his hand. I took it, and we streaked up the stairs in perfect timing.

"What the..." Edward said as he walked into the room that was now Alice's. I couldn't help, and burst into laughter. Beside me, Carlisle did the same thing.

"Hi, Edward! I was wondering when you would come back!" Alice chirped behind us. Edward looked her over suspiciously, before holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Alice" he said, like the gentleman that he was raised to be. "I'm-"

"Nice to meet you, too, Edward" Alice chirped, smiling. "This is-"

"I know, Alice." Edward said, cutting her off in return. He was grinning as he turned to Jasper. "Nice to meet you, Jasper" he said, sticking out his hand. The battle-scar ridden Jasper smiled in return, and put out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Edward" he replied with a quick shake.

"Well, now that the formalies are over" Edward said, turning back to Alice and eying her sternly, "Where is all my stuff?"


	12. Chapter 12

* * *

Edward had instantly become good friends with Alice, despite the not-so-good beginning. He liked Alice enough that he didn't ask the small, lightweight and probably not-so-strong vampire to move back out of his room. Instead, he chose a different room, one with a view of the forest. Alice shared my view of Edward getting a girlfriend, as did all the of the family. But we thought it'd never happen. That is, until one day...

"Esme!" Alice shrieked, bounding down the stairs. "Esme, Esme, guess what!" She continued on without a break. "Edward's gonna fall in LOVE!"

"Really?!" I gasped, dropping my book. Normally, I wouldn't do that, being a vampire, but I was so happy for Edward. However, it seemed that Edward wasn't happy for himself.

"The future changes, Alice" he growled. Suddenly, his face blackened in rage as he saw the next thing that Alice projected to him. Deliberately, she turned her back to him to talk directly to me, even though Edward could obviously hear.

"Who's the lucky girl?" I asked.

"The new girl. Bella Swan. She will one day...become one of..." Alice paused.

"NO!" Edward roared, jumping into the conversation. Alice completely ignored him.

"Us!" she finished triumphantly.

"No. It's a danger. And it takes away her soul." Edward protested, struggling to lower his voice.

"Dude, you should know. Don't bet against Alice." Jasper sudenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs with a slight smile on his face. It was true, after all. Edward had bet against Alice serveral times, all of them lost. Last time, he swore he'd never bet against her again.

"It's not a bet, Jasper. This is a girl's _life_ that we're taking, not a stupid $25!" Edward exclaimed.

"Whatever" Alice said, dismissing both boys with a flick of her hand. "Esme, lemme tell you some more about her!" Alice was jumping up and down with happiness now.

"Go ahead. It doesn't look like I have a choice here" I laughed.

"OK, so her full name is Isabella Marie Swan. So, what I see, she's very clumsy..." Alice rattled on. I tried to smile and nod in the right places, but it was hard, since she didn't leave any time for reactions. Of course, I was terribly interested, and that was what allowed me to listen to her for the full two hours that she babbled on, at vampire speed.

"They're gonna get married..." Alice continued, a gigantic smile on her face.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" I protested, a look of shock on my face. "Hold it. They're gonna get MARRIED?!?" Marriage was a human thing, not a vampire thing. Even though for the charade, all of the Cullen couples were married.

"Yup. Can I continue now?" Alice had her tiny hands on her tiny hips, a hilarious expression of impatience.

"Sorry. Go on" I told her, and she continued to babble at the speed of light.

************

"I'm home!" yelled Edward first as he stalked into the house. Odd. Edward was usually happy.

"Hello, Esme!" Alice chirped, skipping along behind Edward. I shot a confused look at first Edward, then her, then Edward, then her again. Alice giggled.

"I've been asking to talk to Bella all day. Thougthwise, of course" Alice told me. "But you won't believe what happened today! Firstly, Jasper was being totured by Edward's protective feelings, but then..." Alice paused for drama.

"She nearly got hit by some stupid human's van! Edward, not caring about the exposure, he ran out there and SAVED her!!" Alice was shrieking now.

"Shut up, Alice! If her blood was spilled, then you know what would've happened! You know her blood smells better than the others to me!"

"It does?" I asked him, surprised. Edward seemed to realize that he'd given something away. Silently, he moved over to the piano, sat down, and started composing. Alice moved over, joining her sweet voice to the melody, leaving to contemplate today's activites.

************

Edward was hunting again for the second day in a row. I noticed that Edward no longer stayed in the house at night, but slipped out of a window. When I asked Alice, she said that he was watching Bella sleep.

"I'm back!" yelled Edward.

"Come on, when are you gonna ask her?" Alice chirped, continuing an argument that had obviously been started previously.

"Ask what?" I asked her.

"He's going to ask Bella out!" she screamed, delighted.

"I'm bringing her to Port Angeles, because she will hurt herself if she goes alone. That is NOT a date." Edward shot back, glaring.

"That has DATE written all over in capital letters!" Alice sang. Edward stomped upstairs, and the sound of Clar de Lune filled the whole house.

Alice was laughing beside me.

*******************

"She knows" Edward said as he entered the house.

"What?" asked Carlisle, stunned.

"She knows what we are" Edward said again, looking directly at Carlisle.

"And she doesn't care!" Alice chirped behind him.

"Alice! you ruin the suspense!" Edward said, laughing. Odd. Edward NEVER laughed these days.

"Oh, he's happy because of his girfriend Bella" Alice mock whispered to me, knowing that everyone could hear. Edward rolled his eyes.

"OK, Bella's coming here. This Saturday" Alice announced.

"No way!" declared Emmett, slipping in behind Rose. "I'll bet, Alice!"

"You're on! You need to pay for a new wardrobe for me, with me chosing the clothes, if you loose." she replied, grinning at him.

"Deal. If I win, then you owe me a new car of my choosing."

"I'm with Alice" announced Jasper.

"Emmett" chimed in Rose. Edward just rolled his eyes.

"Alice for me. You won't catch _me_ betting against her." Edward said, purposefully emphasizing "me". Carlisle and I laughed. My family was back to their normal laughing, happy selves.


	13. Chapter 13

I fidgeted nervously with my hands. Carlisle kept rubbing my shoulder, but I could tell that he was as nervous as me. This was the first time that a human was coming to our house of their own free will. And she was Edward's girlfriend, so if we scared her off, then Edward would go back to his mopey self. Jasper and Alice were in their room, whispering quietly. Emmett and Rose were nowhere to be seen, probably in the house that I built for them, a few miles away. I was careful to put it just outside of the range that Edward could hear from the house, so that he wouldn't be nauseated by the disturbing explicit thoughts radiating from the house.

My fantasies were interrupted by the sound of conversation.

"Wow." Bella said, sounding surprised.

"You like it?" I could practically hear Edward's new found smile.

"It...has a certain charm."

Edward chuckled.

"Ready?" Edward asked as the sound of a car door opening was heard.

"Not even a little bit - let's go." Bella sounded like she was trying to laugh, but the sound caught in her throat.

"You look lovely." Edward told her, leading up her the walkway. I stood up to stand with Carlisle on the raised portion of the floor, on the left side of the door. Edward and Bella reached the front door, and pulled it open. Carlisle and I smiled, but made no move to approach them. We didn't want to scare the human girl away when Edward had just found her.

"Carlisle, Esme, this is Bella" Edward told us unnecessarily.

"You're very welcome, Bella" Carlisle told her, carefully taking a measured step forward. Tentatively, he raised his hand, and Bella stepped forward to shake hands with her. Her scent was strong, a floral scent. I hoped that her unique scent didn't catch the attention of the visitors who were coming soon.

"It's nice to see you again, Dr. Cullen."

"Please, call me Carlisle."

"Carlisle." Bella grinning suddenly, with a sudden burst of confidence. Edward's expression beside her became relieved, and knowing him like she did, she could probably feel that. I smiled, realizing that it was my turn to shake hands, and stepped forward.

"It's very nice to know you" I told her sincerely.

"Thank you. I'm glad to meet you, too." Bella sounded like she meant it.

"Where are Alice and Jasper?" Edward asked. They appeared at the top of the stairs, so no one answered.

"Hey, Edward!" Alice called. She streaked down the stairs, stopping suddenly-and to a human, frighteningly-in front of Bella. Carlisle and I shot her warning glances that she either didn't see, or ignored.

"Hi, Bella!" Alice leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. I was shocked, and could feel Carlisle's shock at my side. How could she do this? It would scare Bella away!

"You do smell nice, I never noticed before" she noted. Bella looked embarrassed. No one said anything else as Jasper sprinted over to stand next to Alice. I suddenly felt relaxed, and watched Edward stare at Jasper with one eyebrow raised.

"Hello, Bella" Jasper said. Following Edward's instructions, he didn't get any close or offer any contact that might tempt him.

"Hello, Jasper" Bella replied, smiling. "It's nice to meet you all - you have a very nice home" she said graciously. Wow, not only was she pretty and nice, but she was polite! What a perfect match for Edward!

"Thank you" I told her. Dang, she was brave! Coming to a houseful of vampires without breaking a cold sweat! "We're so glad you came." I might have added a little too much feeling, but we weren't exactly keeping secrets from her, were we? Well, except for one, which Carlisle was telling Edward, thinking it, probably repeating it over and over. He stared at Edward, and I noticed Bella glance away. Edward nodded once, and I turned my eyes back to Bella, who was staring at the piano.

"Do you play?" I asked her, inclining my head towards the piano. Bella shook her head, making the scent around her spread out. I could only imagine how hard it was for Edward to stand right beside her like that, especially with her strong scent that smelled even better to him than it did to me. My throat was already burning, and I couldn't imagine what Edward's felt like. Nor did I want to, to be honest.

"Not at all. But it's so beautiful. Is it yours?" Bella didn't know that Edward played?!?

"No" I laughed. "Edward didn't tell you he was musical?"

Bella stared at Edward with narrowed eyes. "No."

Edward's expression became innocent. "But I should have known, I guess." she added.

How? She didn't have any powers that _I_ knew of. I raised my eyebrows in confusion.

"Edward can do everything, right?" she asked me. Jasper snickered. I shot Edward a reproving glance.

"I hope you haven't been showing off" I scolded him. "It's rude."

"Just a bit" he laughed. The sound softened my expression, and I stared criticizing him mentally. _Edward! Come ON! Don't show her EVERYTHING you can do, she already thinks that you can do everything!_ A quick grimace flashed across his face, disappearing before Bella saw it. I felt smug.

"He's been too modest, actually." Bella informed me.

"Well, play for her" I told Edward.

"But you just said showing off is rude!" he protested.

"There are exceptions to every rule" I shot back.

"I'd like to hear you play" Bella told Edward, siding with me. _Hah! Take that, Edward!_

"It's settled then." I gave him a slight shove towards the piano. He gave her an exasperated look before turning to the keys. Carlisle nudged me, and I in turn nudged Alice, who in turn, nudged Jasper. With nods of acceptance, we all vanished upstairs.


	14. Chapter 14

Bella's mouth dropped open as she watched Edward played. We all chuckled, darting upstairs to give them some privacy. Once safely in our rooms with our respective significant others, we all started discussing random things. I tuned out Alice and Jasper's hushed murmurs, concentrating only on my own whisper to Carlisle.

"What do you think of her?" he asked me, cautiously, it seemed. I still wished that Edward hadn't left to Denali without telling me, but Bella seemed like a nice girl.

"Well, she seems nice" I replied. "She seems in love with him...judging on the audible reaction from her heart whenever he touches her...and he's so much happier. She's polite, and Alice's vision..." I trailed off. We all tried not to think about Alice's vision of the lovely girl becoming a vampire in the future. Al least it meant that she and Edward were going to be girlfriend/boyfriend, if nothing else.

"Do you like it?" Edward asked Bella downstairs, still playing the music.

"You wrote this?" Bella asked, sounding like she was going to go into shock. Edward didn't reply verbally at first.

"It's Esme's favorite." he told her, probably after nodding. "What's wrong?" he asked after a pause.

"I'm feeling extremely insignificant." she told him. Edward started playing the piece that he'd been composing, the one that sounded like a lullaby.

"You inspired this one" he told her softly. She didn't respond. Knowing her personality, she probably was unable to speak yet.

"They like you, you know" Edward told Bella conversationally. "Esme especially." Yes, yes, yes she was perfect for him!!!!

"Where did they go?" Bella's tone was confused.

"Very subtly giving us some privacy, I suppose." Hah! I _suppose_. As though he didn't know our intentions as soon as we even considered leaving!

Bella sighed. "_They_ like me. But Rosalie and Emmett..." Bella trailed off.

"Don't worry about Rosalie. She'll come around." Edward was nearly begging.

"Emmett?"

"Well, he thinks _I'm_ a lunatic, it's true, but he doesn't have a problem with you. He's trying to reason with Rosalie." So that was what Emmett was doing.

"What is it that upsets her?" Bella asked, and Edward sighed.

"Rosalie struggles most with...with what we are. It's hard for her to have someone on the outside know the truth. And she's a little jealous."

"_Rosalie _is jealous of _me?_" Bella's tone was shocked, as my face probably was. Bella didn't see herself clearly at all, of course, she was very pretty, modest, and nice. But why would Rosalie be jealous? I listened harder, laying on the bed with Carlisle at my side. My hands were above my head in an image of relaxation, and Carlisle in the same pose beside me, although we were both listening hard.

"You're human." I could practically hear Edward's shrug as he said this."She wishes that she were, too." Rose wanted to be human?!?!?

"Oh" Bella muttered, obviously stunned. "Even Jasper, though..."

"That's really my fault" Edward confessed. "I told you that he was the most recent to try our way of life. I warned him to keep his distance." Bella said nothing in response, presumably because she was fighting a shudder.

"Carlisle and Esme...?" she asked quickly, seeming to hide something from him.

"Are happy to see me happy. Actually, Esme wouldn't care if you had a third eye and webbed feet. All this time, she's been worried about me, afraid that htere was something wrong with me essential makeup, that I was too young when Carlisle changed me...she's ecstatic. Every time I touch you, she just about chokes with satisfaction."

"Alice seems very...enthusiastic." That was one way of putting it.

"Alice has her own way of looking at things." Edward said through his teeth, it sounded like. Well there's another was of putting it. Alice saw things differently...literally.

"And you're not going to explain that, are you?" Bella accused. I was startled. Edward didn't explain to her what Alice saw? She knew our secret, but didn't know that she was going to be one of us?!?!?!

"Better than scaring her" muttered Edward quietly. Even Bella, sitting beside him, probably couldn't hear him.

"So what was Carlisle telling you before?" Bella interrupted the silence that had settled. I chuckled once. Observant.

"You noticed that, did you?" Edward voiced my thoughts.

"Of course." Bella said. Was Carlisle's communication really that obvious to a human? And I could have sworn that she was staring at the piano...

"He wanted to tell me some news...he didn't know if it was something I'd share with you." Edward told her after a pause. News? I glanced at Carlisle.

"The visitors" he muttered to me, too quiet for even Aice and Jasper, in the next room, to hear.

"Will you?" Bella asked in reply to Edward's statement. I turned the majority of my attention back to their conversation downstairs.

" I have to, because I' going to be a little...over-bearingly preotective over the next few days-or weeks-and I wouldn't want you to think that I'm natrually a tyrant."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, exactly. Alice just sees some visitors coming soon. They know we're here, and they're curious."

"Visitors?"

"Yes...well, they aren't like us, of course-in their hunting habits, I mean. They probably won't come into town at all, but I'm certainly not going to let you out of my sight until they're gone." There was a silence.

"Finally, I rational response!" Edward murmured. Bella probably shuddered. "I was beginning to think you have no sense of self-preservaton at all!" There was another silence.

"Not what you expected, is it?" Edward asked her, his voice smug. He was still playing the piano as he spoke.

"No" she confessed.

"No coffins, no skulls piled inthe coners; I don't think we even have cobwebs...what a dissappointment this must be for you," Edward continued slyly. Automatically, I glanced into the corner. _Edward, you're WRONG!_ I thought. There was a tiny spiderweb in the corner. _Ha!_


	15. Chapter 15

"It's so light...so open" Bella continued, pointedly ignoring Edward's teasing. When he responded, Edward was less teasing than he had been when he said the previous statement.

"It's the one place where we never have to hide."

The song that Edward was playing, the lullaby that he had composed a few weeks ago, drifted to an end.

"Thank you" Bella murmured, sounding like she was fighting tears. There was a long silence.

"Do you want to see the rest of the house?" Edward finally asked.

"No coffins?" Bella asked, sounding nervous. Edward laughed.

"No coffins," he promised as we heard their footsteps begin to come upstairs.

"Rosalie and Emmett's room...Carlisle's office, Alice's room..." Edward explained to different rooms and their purposes to his girlfriend. As they came to the end of the hall, their footsteps stopped suddenly, Bella's a split second before Edward's. Edward chuckled once.

"You can laugh," he told her. "It is sort of ironic." So Bella was examining the big wooden cross at the end of the hallway. There was no laugh that followed.

"It must be very old," Bella guessed eventually.

"Early sixteen-thirties, more or less." Edward told her.

"Why do you keep this here?" she wondered aloud.

"Nostalgia. It belonged to Carlisle's father."

"He collected antiques?"

"No. He carved this himself. It hung on the wall above the pulpit in the vicarage where he preached." Only Edward would know that much. I listenedd carefully, but there was only silence.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked worriedly. Bella's expression must have been something to see.

"How old is Carlisle?" she asked him in a quiet, shocked voice.

"He just celebrated his sixty-second birthday." Edward told her in the same volume. Literally. Alice had insisted that she throw a full party, with the only thing lacking being the guests. The cake we donated to a charity.

"Carlisle was born in London, in the sixteen-forties, he believes. Time wasn't marked as accurately then, for the common people anyway." I snorted quietly. Carlisle had told me about his human life, and he was not a _common_ person.

"It was just before Cromwell's rule, though." Bella would certainly know that one. They put that in History classes in school.

"He was the only son of an Anglican pastor. His mother died giving birth to him. His father was an intolerant man. As the Protestants came into power, he was enthusiastic in his persecution of Roman Catholics and other religions. He also believed very strongly in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witchs, werewolves...and vampires. They burned a lot of innocent people, of course the real creature he sought were not so easy to catch. When the pastor grew old, he placed his obedient soon in charge of the raids. At first, Carlisle was a dissappointment. Hi was not quick to accuse, to see demons where they did not exist. But he was persisent, and more clever than his father." I smiled. Of course! Carlisle was always been, always WOULD be brilliant!

"He actually discovered a true coven of vampires that lived hidden in the sewers of the city, only coming out by night to feed. In those days, when monsters were not just myths and legends, that was the way many lived. The people gathered their pitchforks and torches, of course, and waited where Carlisle had seen the monsters exit into the street. Eventually one emerged." Edward's voice was very quiet as he continued with his story.

"He must have been ancient, and weak with hunger. Carlisle heard him call out in Latin to the others when he caught the scent of the mob. He ran through the streets, and Carlisle - he was twenty-three and very fast - was in the lead of the pursuit. The creature could have easily outrun them, but Carlisle thinks he was too hungry, so he turned and attacked. He fell on Carlisle first, but the others were close behind, so he turned to defend himself. He killed two men, and made off with a third, leaving Carlisle bleeding in the street." Edward paused, editing out the gory part that Carlisle had told me.

"Carlisle knew what his father would de. The bodies would be burned - anything infected by the monster must be destroyed. Carlisle acted instinctively to save his own life. He crawled away from the alley while the mob followed the fiend and his victim. He hid in a cellar, buried himself in rotting potatoes for three days. It's a miracle he was able to keep silent, to stay undiscovered. It was over then, and he realized what he had become." Edward suddenly paused in his story.

"How are you feeling?" he asked Bella.

"I'm fine" she replied. There was a pause.

"I'm sure you have a few more questions for me." he said with a smile in his voice.

"A few."

"Come on, then. I'll show you." he said, walking down the hallway with her.

Carlisle suddenly sat up.

"Oops, they're probably going to go into my office" he murmured to me. "I've got to be there." Carlisle slipped out of our room, sliding into his office so quickly that Bella wouldn't have seen him pass. I heard a heavy book open as Carlisle began reading.

"Come in" I heard him call from his desk as Bella and Edward paused outside his door. The door opened, and I listened carefully for Bella's reaction.

"What can I do for you?" Carlisle asked them.

"I wanted to show Bella some of our history, well, your history actually." Edward told him.

"We didn't mean to disturb you." I smiled affectionately as Bella apologized for something that probably hadn't been done. What a sweet girl. I could easily see why Edward had fallen for her.


	16. Chapter 16

"Oh, not at all," Carlisle assured Bella. "Where are you going to start?" he asked Edward.

"The Waggoner" he told Carlisle, and suddenly Bella's heartbeat sped up. I smiled to myself. Probably Edward was just spinning her to look at the wall that had the pictures on it, but her heart reacted in every situation. Poor Bella, she must be embaressed with Carlisle there listening, not even knowing that the rest of our family could hear the delicious _thump-thump_ of her heart...

No, Esme! I mentally screamed at myself. She was Edward girlfriend. There was no way that I could think like that.

"London in the sixteen-forties" Edward suddenly said, talking to Bella.

"The London of my youth" Carlisle added, walking over to the same spot where they were standing. Bella's heartbeat sped up momentarily as he surprised her, then went back to its previous beating, faster than normal for a human. Edward was probably still touching her, I assumed with a low chuckle.

"Will you tell the story?" Edward asked Carlisle. There was a pause.

"I would," he replied. "But I'm actually running a bit late. The hospital called this morning-Dr. Snow is taking a sick day. Besides, you know the stories as well as I do," he said, probably turning to Edward. I heard Carlisle walking out of the room after a moment, coming towards our room. The door opened at the split second that I predicted it to, and I smiled up at Carlisle. It was like the first time we'd met - his beautiful features filling the room.

"Bye, love. See you later tonight." Carlisle said, coming over and kissing me quickly. I frowned at him.

"Carlisle, why didn't you tell me? I would have let you go, you know that!" He smiled at me.

"Because, I was just so happy where I was," he told me with another kiss. I grinned and gave him a hug.

"Bye, Carlisle. Hurry back," I told him, then went back to my book.

A while later, I heard Alice skipping merrily towards my room, Jasper in pursuit. They paused outside my room quickly. I opened my mouth to tell them to come in, but Alice beat me to the punch.

"She's decent, and we can go in," she trilled, opening the door. I put my book aside, memorizing the page number quickly.

"Yes?" I asked.

"There's gonna be a storm! Do you want to play baseball?" I smiled.

"Yes! Thank you, Esme!" she chirped happily, having seen my being at the clearing. Alice and Jasper were out of the room before I could blink, the door closed again. I heard Alice skipping toward Edward's room, and listened to hear what he would say. I knew Carlisle would be there, he never missed it. And, of course, Rose couldn't keep Emmett away. And if Emmett was there, so was she, that was for sure.

I frowned, thinking about Rose. She could be a little nicer to the human girl, whatever her problem was. But then again, Rose had never liked Edward, and didn't feel - or appreciate - the difference between the Edward that had Bella and the Edward that didn't have Bella. I knew there was a difference, and I knew that Jasper and Alice could feel it too. So could Carlisle, and Emmett, even though he thought that Edward was weird because of his mind-reading. Personally, I'd always thought of Edward as the gentleman of my foster sons, even though I loved them all equally.

Alice and Jasper has reached his door now.

"Can we come in?" Alice called. Edward was chuckling while Bella's heart was pounding. Hmm. Her face must have been something to see. I'd heard all of it, of course.

"Go ahead." Edward replied to Alice, still laughing quietly. Alice entered, sitting down in the center of the room, while Jasper paused at the door.

"It sounded like you were having Bella for lunch, and we came to see if you would share." Bella's heart sped up, and I chuckled quietly at Alice's humor.

"Sorry, I don't believe I have enough to spare," Edward said cheerfully. I could hear the smile in his voice, and Bella's frantic heartbeat. Good, he was still in control.

"Actually," Jasper said, finally walking into the room. "Alice says there's going to be a real storm tonight, and Emmett wants to play ball. Are you game?" There was a pause, about half of a second, my mind calculated.

"Of course you should bring Bella," Alice told him. So that's what he was deliberating about. I was slightly worried about the visitors coming, but not too worried. Or family of seven could take them on easily, although they were probably only curious.

"Do you want to go?" Edward asked Bella, excited. I could only imagine the effect that had on her answer. Whenever Carlisle got excited on me, I couldn't dissappoint his happy face.

"Sure." Bella told him. "Um, where are we going?"

"We have to wait for thunder to play ball-you'll see why" Edward told her.

"Will I need an umbrella?" All three of the vampires in the room laughed.

"Will she?" Jaser asked Alice for her.

"No. The storm will hit over town. It should be dry enough in the clearing." Alice told them.

"Good, then." Jasper said.

"Let's go see if Carlisle will come" Alice said excitedly. As though she didn't already know the answer. I listened carefully, knowing that her words meant that he was coming home soon. Sure enough, I heard his care pulling up in the driveway, as well as a door closing upstairs and the sound of Alice and Jasper coming down the staircase. I stood up, and walked out to the living room. I watched as Alice ran out to Carlisle with Jasper in tow, not even waiting for the engine to stop. She started talking to him excitedly through the glass, not doubt he could hear her. Carlisle stopped the engine, and climbed out.

"Sure, Alice" he told her. "You know I'm always in." Alice squealed, and turned to Jasper.

"Come on! Let's check with Emmett and Rose." Jasper nodded, up for anything that Alice was up for. They ran off into the woods, and I concentrated on Carlisle's face. He smiled when he saw me, opening the door and locking it behind him. He turned around to face me, holding his arms out to me. I smiled, throwing myself across the room and into his arms.

"Welcome home" I murmured.


	17. Chapter 17

Carlisle and I stood in the clearing, waiting for the others to arrive. Emmett and Rosalie came first, bickering. Alice and Jasper were there shortly after, and we waited for Edward and Bella.

Suddenly, there was an odd sound, one that sounded much like a bear choking. Edward and Bella arrived soon after the strange sound was heard, Edward chuckling quietly. I approached them.

"Was that you we heard, Edward?" I asked.

"It sounded like a bear choking" Emmett added. Bella smiled shyly at me.

"Yes, that was him," she said.

"Bella was being unintentionally funny," Edward shot back, settling the score between them. Alice got up, and ran towards us gracefully. She stopped at our feet.

"It's time." she said, just before a clash of thunder echoed.

"Eerie, isn't is?" Emmett asked Bella playfully, winking at her.

"Let's go." Alice said, slightly impatiently, but I was pretty sure that Bella couldn't detect her impatience. It was too subtlefor human eyes. Alice reached for Emmett's hand, and they ran together to the field.

"Are you ready for some ball?" Edward asked Bella, excited.

"Go team!" Bella cheered, slightly halfheartedly. Edward chuckled, mussing her hair gently before running after the others. I smiled at Bella's face; as she watched them (probably Edward in particular) run, her jaw dropped open. _Bella's gawking, Edward_, I laughed mentally.

"Shall we go down?" I asked Bella. She looked embarrassed that I'd caught her staring. She quickly closed her mouth and resembled her expression before nodding. Carefully, I kept a few feet between us. I didn't want to scare her, plus she was too good-smelling for her own good. I easily matched my pace with her human one.

"You don't play with them?" Bella asked me hesitantly.

"No, I prefer to referee-I like keeping them honest."

"Do they like to cheat, then?"

"Oh, yes! You should hear the arguments they get into!" I paused. "Actually, I hope you don't, you would think they were raised by a pack of wolves."

"You should like my mom!" She laughed, surprised. I laughed, too.

"Well, I do think of them as my children in most ways. I never could get over my mothering instincts-did Edward tell you I had lost a child?"

"No," Bella mumured, looking sympathic.

"Yes, my first and only baby. He died just a few days after he was born, the poor thing." I sighed at the human memory. It was one that still had yet to fade. "It broke my heart-that's why I jumped off the cliff, you know." I told her.

"Edward just said you f-fell" she stammered, shocked.

"Always the gentleman. Edward was the first of my new sons. I've always thought of him that way, at least. That's why I'm so happy he's found you, dear. He's been the odd man out for far too long; it's hurt me to see him alone."

"You don't mind, then?" she asked nervously. "That I'm...all wrong for him?"

"No. You're what he wants. It will work out, somehow." I was worried, though. If Edward's pull to her was stronger than mine, how did he resist?

I stopped, reaching the edge of the field.

"All right, batter up." I called out. Alice threw the ball without a swing from Emmett.

"Was that a strike?" Bella whispered.

"If they don't hit it, it's a strike." I replied. Alice pitched again, and Emmett hit a long fly. With any other outfielder, it would have been a home run, but Edward was the fastest runner.

"Home run" Bella murmured beside me.

"Wait," I told her, listening carefully. I heard the faint smack as Edward caught the ball. "Out!" I told Emmett, whose proud face instantly became pouty. I glanced down at Bella as she watched Edward in awe. Eventually, Jaser hit a ground ball to my Carlisle, and he raced Jasper to first. When the ran into each other, Bella jumped up in concern.

"Safe," I called. After the inning, Edward ran over to Bella.

"What do you think?" he asked her excitedly.

"One thing's for sure, I'll never be able to sit through dull old Major League Baseball again."

'And it sounds like you did so much of that before," Edward laughed.

"I am a little dissappointed," Bella said mockingly.

"Why?" Edward asked her, puzzled.

"Well, it would be nice if I could find just one thing you didn't do better than everyone else on the planet."

Edward smiled at her, causing her heart to speed up. He glanced towards the plate.

"I'm up" he informed her. I glanced down at Bella every now and then, always finding that she watching Edward. _Who else?_ I murmured mentally, chuckling slightly.

Suddenly, Alice gasped. Edward looked up, met her eyes, and darted over to where Bella and I were standing.

"Alice?" I asked tensely.

"I didn't see...I couldn't tell" she whispered, eyes far away.

"What is it, Alice?" Carlisle asked.

"They were traveling much quicker than I thought. I can see I had the perspective wrong before" she murmured.

"What chaged?" Jasper asked.

"They heard us playing, and it changd their path," Alice replied. All of us glanced quickly at Bella and away.

"How soon?" Carlisle asked Edward.

"Less than five minutes. They're running...they want to play." Edward replied, his face darkening slightly.

"Can you make it?" Carlisle asked, and I knew he was talking about about Edward running back to the house with Bella.

"No not carrying..." Edward cut off. "Besides, the last thing we want is for them to catch the scent and start hunting."

"How many?" Emmett asked Alice.

"Three"

"Three! Let them come!" Emmett said, flexing his muscles.

"Let's just continue the game" Carlisle decided after a long deliberation.

"You catch, Esme. I'll call it now." Edward told me, planting himself in front of Bella. I knew that the reason was because he wanted to protect his grilfriend, ans I didn't object.

"Take you hair down." Edward told Bella quietly. She did so, then asked-or rather stated-a statement of her own.

"The others are coming now."


	18. Chapter 18

"Yes, stay very still and don't move from my side, please." Edward's voice was very quiet, hiding the stress, but not very well. I watched as he pulled her hair around her face, trying in vain to conceal her scent.

"That won't help," Alice called out softly. "I could smell her across the field."

"I know." Edward almost groaned in frustration. My oldest son's face was pained, part panic and part fury.

"What did Esme ask you?" I heard Bella whisper quietly to Edward, probably hoping that I wouldn't hear. Edward hesitated a few moments before he answered, probably fighting an internal battle whether or not to tell her.

"Whether they were thirsty," he muttered at last, albeit unwillingly.

The game progressed, but slowly. We were all wondering about Bella's safety, and every now and then, I saw him glare at Rosalie for a thought she'd had. In a movement barely perceivable, Carlisle signaled for Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper to hover closer to the infield. As a sort of unspoken agreement, none of us hit harder than a bunt. No one cared any longer about score or fairness. All that we cared about was Bella, Edward's human girl, and her safety. I spotted Carlisle giving Rose a warning look before going up to bat again.

Suddenly, we all heard the faint sounds of passage in the woods. I heard Edward's breath stop, and he placed himself firmly in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Bella," he muttered to her fiercly. "It was stupid, irresponsible, to expose you like this. I'm so sorry."

One by one, we saw the three others of our kind emerge from the trees in far right field. Their leader was a tall, dark-haired man, walking catiously toward us. I could see the reason for their caution; we had seven members in our family, and they only had three in their little traveler's group. The two other vampires oriented themselves behind their leader, although somehow I could sense that the other male had a malicious air about him. As for the woman and the leader, well, I couldn't find anything about them.

As they approached us, I could tell that they had a more wild kind of walk, very different to ours. I watched my husband anxiously as he stepped forward to meet them, flanked by Emmett and Jasper. Although he was the leader of the pack, I still wished that he would choose someone else, Emmett maybe, to approach the others. With relief, I noticed that they both straightened into a more polite stance.

"We thought we heard a game," he said in a relaxed tone. I heard Bella's heartbeat giving her away, thumping at a pace that I thought might be a little too fast. But Bella had a right to be scared; she was facing three blood-drinkers who would eat her if they got the chance. I was still surprised that she'd want to stay with us, though. I mean, what sort of human boyfriend is a vampire that would drink her blood if he didn't love her too much to do it?

"I'm Laurent," their leader continued, "and there are Victoria and James."

"I'm Carlisle. This is my family, Emmett and Jasper, Rosalie, Esme and Alice, Edward and Bella."

I would have chuckled at the human girl's face if we hadn't been in danger. She was obviously shocked that Carlisle had grouped her in his family.

"Do you have a room for a few more player?" Larent asked politely.

"Actually, we were just finishing up. But we'd certainly be interested another time. Are you planning on staying iin the area for long?"

"We're headed north, in fact, but we were curious to see who was in the neighborhood." _Correction, they wanted to see if anyone owned this territory. _I corrected mentally. I saw Edward's face change to horror as he realized what they'd do with that territory, which would be feed, and Bella lived here.....Edward shook his head sharply.

"We haven't run into any company in a long time." Laurent observed.

"No, this region is usually empty except for us and the occasional visitor, like yourselves." Actually, you were the first, I again mentally corrected.

"What's your hunting range?" Laurent inquired casually.

"The Olympic range here, up and down the Coast Ranges, on occasion. We keep a permanent residence nearby. There's another settlement like ours up near Denali." Carlisle was very pointedly ignoring the assumption behind Laurent's inquiry.

I noticed that the tense air in the atmosphere had been slightly resolved. I made a mental note to thank Jasper for that later.

Rocking back on his heels, Laurent's face was one of utter shock.

"Permanent? How do you manage that?" he asked, honestly curious.

"Why don't you come back to our home with us and we can talk comfortbaly? It's a rather long story." Carlisle invited them politely. James and Victoria looked shocked at the word "home". Laurent managed, with only a little shock creeping in, to keep his expression out of surprise.

"That sounds very interesting, and welcome. We've been on the hunt all the way down from Ontario, and we haven't had the chance to clean up in a while." I noticed how he looked appreciatively at my husband's appearance. I felt a slight flash of jealousy, having my husband admired by someone other than myself, but quickly repelled it.

"Please don't take offense, but we'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from hunting in this immediate area. We have to stay inconspicuous, you understand." Carlisle gently asked.

It seemed like the tensions were resolving themselves. How little did I know, as I would in a few seconds, that I was utterly and completely wrong.


	19. Chapter 19

"Of course!" Laurent exclaimed, nodding. "We certainly won't encroach on your territory. We ate just outside of Seattle, anyways," he added, laughing. I glanced at Bella, and noticed her repressing a shudder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Carlisle more effectively masking his disgust.

"We'll show you the way if you'd like to run with us," Carlisle suggested. Suddenly, I could tell that the breeze was shifting, and my attention fell off of my husband and his voice turned into a drone in the background.

"-Bella to get the Jeep." Carlisle finished as chaos was erupting. Carefully, I held my breath, and saw most of the others of our family doing the same. I saw Edward stiffen beside her, and James suddenly whipped his head around. I glanced at my husband's face, and his expression was confused. Of course. He was immune to human blood, so he would barely notice the sudden appealing scent in the air. Realization dawned on his face, which became hard.

James lurched one step forward, and Edward bared his teeth, crouching protectively in front of Bella. He snarled, more aggressively than I had ever heard from him.

"What's this?" Laurent asked in surprise. He was more gentlemanly; although he was also affected by Bella's tantalizing scent, he suppressed it to avoid offending Carlisle. Neither Edward or James even began to relax. James feinted slightly; testing Edward, I think, and Edward shifted in response.

"She's with us." Carlisle was obviously a rebuff directed towards James. Laurent mistakenly took a deep breath, and took an involuntary step forward.

"You brought a snack?" he asked, his expression incredulous. Edward snarled even louder and wilder. This was going beyond my motherly comfort zone for his aggressiveness. If he wasn't defending his girlfriend from bloodthirsty vampires, and if I hadn't done the same thing in his place, then I would seriously scold him for it.

"I said she's with us!" Carlisle's frustation was showing through. He was now speaking in the hard voice that he adopted when he was angry.

"But she's human!" Laurent exclaimed.

"Yes." Emmett replied this time, his eyes on James. He was obviously going to step in and help his brother if it came down to hand-to-hand. And if Victoria was also affected, JAser would probably step in while Carlisle and I got Bella away.

She was the more fragile one, right?

But it would seem wrong to just abandon the rest of our vampire family to deal with things on their own, even if only temporarily.

Well, I was glad that I'd never have to make the choice. After a quick glance at Emmett and all his buff, James slowly began straightening out of his crouch. I wasn't sure if anyone else did, but I immediately started to relax, if only slightly. Edward remained in front of Bella, still crouching protectively and not showing any intention of moving anytime soon.

"It appears we have a lot to learn about each other." Laurent said calmly, but his eyes still showed the shock. He was obviously trying to diffuse the hostility that had suddenly erupted.

"Indeed." I had to admit, I was impressed with my husband. He had "kept his cool", as the human teenagers say these days, throughout the whole thing.

"But we'd like to accept your invitation." Laurent's eyes flicked to Bella, then back to Carlisle. "And, of course, we will not harm the human girl. We won't hunt in your range, as I said." I glanced again at Bella. She couldn't have been more still even if she was a vampire, like us. I wondered if she was going into shock.

I also noticed how James glanced at Laurent, his irritation evident in his face, then flicked his eyes to Victoria. Carlisle stared cautiously at Laurent's face for a while before speaking.

"We'll show you the way. Jasper, Rosallie, Esme?" he asked us quietly. I glanced up, read his intentions in his eyes, and nodded. Jasper, Rosalie, and I gathered together, blocking Bella from view. Alice slipped foward to be at Bella's side, opposite from Edward. I quickly glanced around, and saw that Emmett was missing. Looking back to Carlisle, I realized that Emmett was slowly backing towards us, glaring at James.

"Let's go, Bella." Edward said in a low voice. Bella didn't move. _Be gentle, Edward, don't hurt her!_ I warned mentally as Edward gripped her arm. To my relief, I saw his arm loosen, if only slightly. He pulled sharply, but thankfully I heard no crack of her bones. It seemed to pull Bella out of her stupor, and she stumbled slowly, even slower than normal human pace, towards to trees. Edward's impatience was obvious, probably even to Bella. _Relax!_ My thought probably would have been convincing, if I wasn't as impatient myself. I only masked it better.

Once we were into the trees, Alice, Emmett, and Edward started into a sprint faster than ever before. Without breaking pace, Edward slung Bella over his back, and ran, faster than I had ever seen him run. Although he was by nature faster than the rest of us, he was sprinting way faster than that right now. Unlike the Edward whose wide grin automatically spread across his face when he ran, Edward was furious right now, a fury that consumed his whole self and drove him faster than he had ever run. Even with Bella on his back, all of the others trailed a good hundred meters behind him.

I turned back around, facing Carlisle and the others. Rosalie, Jasper and I walked back over to Carlisle, standing around him, me taking Emmett's place at Carlisle's side. Jasper remained on Carlisle's other side.

"Follow me." Carlisle said, his voice cool, but his irritation evident. He set off into the trees. I signaled for James, Victoria, and Laurent to go first, then brought up the rear. Right on cue, Jasper and Rosalie took the sides of the small group. Rosalie's annoyance was evident in her face. I knew what she thought of Bella, that she was an unneccessary danger brought on our family. She had always disliked Edward, and hated him even more when he introduced Bella. Or more like, Alice introduced him introducing Bella, I thought with a silent chuckle. Somehow, I couldn't bring myself to laugh out loud. What a situation.


	20. Chapter 20

Silently, we made our way back to our house, along with our visitors. I wasn't completely sure what our plan was, but I was scared of what James's plan was. He had a look of determination on his face, and although I was sure that it did, I hoped that it didn't have anything to do with Bella unless it was to leave her alone.

"Excuse me, please," James murmured, and slipped smoothly out the door with Victoria. They slipped away into the night, and we couldn't hear them talking at all, as much as I wished to be able to. Carlisle sank wearily into a chair, looking completely wiped out for the day.

"What do you want to know?" he asked Laurent, who was standing nervously near the door, as though wondering if he was welcome.

"And sit down," I invited, gesturing to a chair facing mine and Carlisle's. Tentatively, he walked over and sat down in the easy chair. Not that the extra cushion was necessary for us vampire people, but we had to keep the human charade going.

"So, what do you want to know?" Carlisle asked again. Laurent hesitated for just a second, looking tense, his eyes darting around the room.

"Why don't you just start from the beginning?" he asked. Carlisle nodded, and began to retell the story of his beginning. I settled back, comfortably drowning him out. I always loved my husband, of course, but I had heard this story many times through, and he knew it. The first was when he first told it to me, and I was raptly interested. The second was to Rosalie, then to Emmett, then Alice, then Jasper. Then Edward had retold it to Bella, but I was interested in Bella's reactions to things that she believed impossible, up since this day, I realized.

Suddenly, I heard a Jeep screech through into the driveway, then silence. Carlisle paused in his story, in which he was at the part of us remaining inconspicuous in Forks.

Seconds later, Emmett raced into the house with Bella, her eyes wide and frightened, tucked snugly into his chest.

"He's tracking us," Edward growled at Laurent, pulling Bella close to his side from where Emmett had put her down next to him.

"I was afraid of that," Laurent replied unhappily.

Alice sprinted over to Jasper and whispered to him, then they darted up the stairs together. Upstairs, I could hear them move into the bedroom that they shared, then heard their low murmurs, although I couldn't disconcern what they were saying. I shot a warning look at Rose, and she met my eyes. I hoped she'd gotten the message, not to say anything. She could be unhappy or furious, whichever one, and no one would care. It was a minor problem in comparison to Bella's life. She moved to stand by Emmett's side, ocassionally shooting glares at Bella, but otherwise her eyes were merely intense.

"What will he do?" Carlisle asked Laurent, in unfriendly tones now that Bella was present.

"I'm sorry. I was afraid, when your boy there defended her, that it would set him off." Laurent explained, sounding apologetic.

"Can you stop him?" It was more of a demand, rather than a question.

"Nothing stops James when he gets started." Laurent replied, shaking his head.

"We'll stop him." It was clear what Emmett meant, and I wondered what had been said in the car.

"You can't bring him down. I've never seen anything like him in my three hundred years. He's absolutely lethal. That's why I joined his coven." Shaking his head, Laurnet glanced at Bella, puzzled, and back at Carlisle. Instinctively, I snuggled a little closer to my husband's side.

"Are you sure it's worth it?" Laurent asked, puzzled. I had no need to answer; Edward's enraged roar filled the room. Even Laurent, in the coven of the deadly killer, flinched back.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to make a choice." Carlisle's voice didn't change.

"I'm intrigued by the life you've created here. But I won't get in the middle of this. I bear none of you any enmity, but I won't go up against James. I think I will head north - to that clan in Denali." Laurent finally said, after a long pause. He hesitated after this little speech, as though deciding whether or not to tell us something.

"Don't underestimate James. He's got a brilliant mind and unparalleled senses. He's every bit as comfortable in the human world as you seem to be, and he won't come at you head on...I'm sorry for what's been unleashed here. Truly sorry." He bowed his head in the worldwide symbol of apology, guilt, and other things along that line. Underneath this dramatic performance, though, I saw him shoot another curious glance at Bella. I could tell that Carlisle saw it, too, because he tensed slightly beside me.

"Go in peace," Carlisle finally declared. Laurent glanced around him one more time, probably committing everything to memory. In less than half a second from when he hurried out the door, the silence was broken.

"How close?" Carlisle asked Edward. I slipped over to the keypad on the wall, and almost instantly, the large metal shutters began closing up the glass walls. I could see Bella gaping, and I smiled to myself. There were so many secrets here that she would know in time.

"About three miles out past the river," Edward answered Carlisle's question. "He's circling around to meet up with the female."

"What's the plan?"

"We'll lead him off, then Jasper and Alice will run her south."

"And then?"

"As soon as Bella is clear, we hunt him." There was no tone of compromise in my oldest son's face.

"I guess there's no other choice." My husband agreed, looking grim.

"Get her upstairs and change clothes." Edward demanded, turning to Rosalie. She only stared back, despite Carlisle and I's repeated warning glances.

"Why should I? What is she to me? Except a menace - a danger you've chosen to inflict on all of us." I stared, astounded. That - Rosalie's attitude towards Bella - would definitely have to change.


	21. Chapter 21

Apparently everyone in the house was thinking the same idea. I saw Bella flinching back from her sharp voice, but Rosalie's hard face didn't soften.

"Rose..." Emmett murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder. I noticed his slightly hurt expression when she shook it off. Obviously, Rose was not in a mood to be calmed. I saw Edward start to take a deep breath to calm himself, but as he was standing next to Bella, he thought better of it, and calmly turned to me.

"Esme?"

"Of course," I replied softly. I didn't need to, of course, but I didn't want Bella to be frightened. I rushed to her side, picked her up gently, and sprinted up the stairs. I ran into Carlisle and I's bedroom, and set her down. Then, I began taking off my shirt.

"What are we doing?" Bella asked breathlessly.

"Trying to confuse the smell. It won't work for long, but it might help get you out." My shirt, then pants dropped to the ground.

"I don't think I'll fit..." Bella began hesitantly. Impatient, but only for her safety, I yanked her shirt off for her, then put it on while she took her jeans off. When she was finished, I handed her my shirt, then yanked her jeans on. She was right, they were a little tight, but that was fine. I handed Bella my own pants, then rolled the hems a few times so that she could stand without tripping. Although she'd probably trip anyway, from what I'd heard from Edward. I pulled her back to the stairs, and Alice was already there with a small leather bag. I grabbed her elbow, and Alice grabbed her other one. We half-carried her as we rushed to join the others downstairs.

As we arrived, we discovered that Edward and Emmett were ready to go, with Emmett carrying a large backpack over his shoulder. Carlisle handed me a silver cell phone, and then handed Alice the same thing.

"Esme and Rosalie will be taking your truck, Bella," Carlisle told Bella. I noticed Rosalie glowering at Carlisle. Obviously, he hadn't asked her about this before making the decision.

"Alice, Jasper - take the Mercadees. You'll need the dark tint in the south." Alice and Jasper also nodded, with expressions that displayed different emotions. Jasper's was grave with the turmoil of emotions in the room, as it always was, and Alice's was worried with a hint of excitement of getting to take Bella somewhere, something that Bella would never had done unless her life depended on it.

"We're taking the Jeep." So that would mean that Carlisle, Edward and Emmett were the ones who made up the hunting party. I watched Bella's face mirror my terror as our loved ones were grouped into hunting the cruel, dangerous vampire.

"Alice," Carlisle said, quickly spinning to face her. "Will they take the bait?" Naturally, everyone watched as Alice closed her eyes and became still. The seconds ticked by as we all waited for a response.

"He'll track you." She finally said to Carlisle, her eyes opening. "The woman will follow the truck. We should be able to leave after that."

"Let's go." Carlisle responded, looking sadly at me, and then walking towards the kitchen. But Edward instead dashed the opposite direction, towards Bella. He wrapped his arms around her, seeming unaware of our watching as he pulled Bella's face to his, lifting her feet off the floor. Was I the only one who noticed the blank, dead look in his eyes as he turned away? I could tell that Bella saw it too, as her eyes welled up with tears and they began to fall. Then, Edward, Carlisle and Emmett were gone.

Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and I all looked away from Bella's face as we waited for some sort of signal. Rosalie was just glaring, so I assumed that her looking away from Bella was not a polite gesture. But Alice, Jasper and I looked away from Bella's face because we didn't want her to feel embarrassed. No one spoke.

My phone vibrated, so I flipped it open and put it to my ear. All I did was repeat the only word that Carlisle said to me before hanging up.

"Now," I declared, flipping the phone shut and putting it back into my pocket. Rose stalked out the door angrily, but I slowed as I passed Bella. Carefully, I touched her fragile, warm cheek, trying not to scare her, be tempted, or feel the thick human blood flowing beneath the membrane.

"Be safe," I whispered before putting on a full sprint to Bella's truck. Rosalie had already flown into the driver's seat, so I slipped into the passenger seat beside her, and slammed the door. As soon as my door was shut, Rosalie was already driving away.

I knew the plan. We were to continue driving away from Forks until a phone call told us otherwise. That we did. After the second day of Rose being in a complete rage, I asked her finally,

"Rosalie, what are you so frustrated about?" in my calmest manner possible. The car only edged higher above the speed limit.

"She is a menace! An unwelcome intruder into this family's secret life. If only _Edward_," she sneered his name, "hadn't chosen to fall in love with none other than a human girl, or instead chosen maybe one of the Denalis? I know Tanya's already hitting on him. But anyway, if it weren't for Bella, then the tracker wouldn't have stayed in Forks, and I would be spending another night peacefully with Emmett." Her rage had begun to wear out when she started the last sentence, and she broke down into sobs of frustration, anger, and also because she missed Emmett.

"If it weren't for the human snack-" she began, but I cut her off.

"Rosalie, use a different term with which to speak of your brother's girfriend. Be nice." I demanded, inflexible. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, then. The human." She waited for me to object, but I didn't, so she continued.

"If it weren't for the human, then I wouldn't be spending my night cramped into a loud, thundering truck. For that matter, I don't even think it would go beyond sixty!" To prove her point, she stepped harder on the gas pedal, and something started rattling before she again slowed the truck into its internal speed limit.

"If it weren't for the human, then I wouldn't be worrying about Emmett being killed, I would be in bed!" Her face appeared slightly embarrassed as she said the last part of that sentence.

"But regardless," I said firmly, "I'm guessing she'll soon be a part of the family, from Alice's vision, and you need to start accepting her. Got it?" She made no response, so I assumed that she did.

And we drove on.


	22. Chapter 22

After a few days of driving (with frequent stops at the gas station) I assumed it was safe, and decided to begin the roundabout route to home. Somehow rose has managed to maintain a black mood throughout the whole trip, and I tried once more to cheer her up.

"The fact that we haven't received a call is probably a good thing," I mused, directed at her. I slipped my eyes over to her to see how she took that statement.

"Or it could mean that they're all dead," she shot back bitterly. I couldn't help the wince at the thought of my husband being killed by hunters. Quickly, I shook that thought out of my head, and again set upon trying to cheer her up.

"I bet Emmett wouldn't want to see you like this," I challenged, with the desired effect. Rosalie straightened up, then turned her head to glare at me.

"Rose," I said in a softer tone, "Really, if you're not going to be happy for me, at least be happy for Emmett." Rosalie sighed, glancing down at her lap. I had known it would be a risk to threaten her with her sometimes-husband; we were all extremely sensitive about our significant others. However, a Rosalie looking down at her lap sadly was, to me, better than a Rosalie glaring angrily out the window.

"Rosalie, I know she's throwing her life away, but please, it's her decision, not yours." I tried to persuade her. Rose only sighed, and returned to glaring out the window. I took that to mean, correctly, that the conversation was over.

* * *

Eventually, we reached home again. Rosalie got out, slammed the door, and stalked into the house through the garage. I climbed carefully out, not bothering to lock the car door, but closing the garage door after me instead. I slipped inside just in time to see Rosalie stomp up the stairs, although I could have heard it from outside.

"You know something interesting that I noticed, Rose?" I called out. Rosalie's face appeared at the top of the stairs. "None of the others are back yet. They probably should be." I knew it was cruel to her, but her face froze in a mask of horror. At least it was better than her thinking about Bella.

"Should we call?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure," I replied as I meandered into the kitchen. Suddenly, I froze.

"There's a note!" Rosalie may have said the words before I did, but I was moving by the time that she finished the first word. _Esme_, it read on the outside:

_My dear wife:  
Bella's in trouble. Edward reached her first, and then called me. Emmett and Jasper are fine, everything's fine. I'll call later.  
P.S. Don't come! There may be blood.  
Your husband, Carlisle_

Rosalie and I read the note at the same pace, then turned to face each other. Rosalie's face was in a mask of relief, probably the same expression that was on my own face. Then Rosalie turned away, walking slowly to the sofa chairs in the living room. She settled down for a minute, then rose again and headed over to Edward's piano. Soft music began flowing through the room as I watched her bend her head over the keys, concentrating. Canon in D, I thought.

Suddenly, the phone's sharp trill shot through the room, and Rosalie was at my side, the music abruptly cut off.

"Pick it up!" she urged when my speed wasn't fast enough for her. I shot a glance at her that clearly said, Let me go at my own pace!, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Esme," murmured Carlisle's voice in return. I smiled slightly to myself and closed my eyes.

"What happened?" I asked, eyes still closed and smile still on my face.

"Bella headed to the dance studio to sacrifice herself, but Alice saw, and called me and Edward. Edward, naturally, flew into a rage and sprinted the whole way there, so naturally, he was the first. Emmett and Jasper were next, and then me. Edward handed James over to Em and Jazz after he pulled the hunter off of Bella. We got there just in time. She'd lost blood and was unconscious, but it seems like Edward's voice pulled her out of it."

"Is that possible?"

"I guess. Probably, your voice would pull me out of unconsciousness." I could hear the smile in his voice now.

"And yours would do the same for me." I replied. "So, where's Bella now?"

"She's still right here, although the morphine we gave her put her back into unconsciousness. Edward's carrying her."

"Okay. Where are you guys taking her? The hospital?"

"Of course," Carlisle replied.

"What's your cover story for her?"

"Edward came up with it. You're gonna love this one - the story is that Edward came to talk some sense into her, to convince her to come back to Forks, and Bella agreed to meet him at the hotel him, Alice and I were staying at. But then she tripped on the stairs on the way to his room, fell down two stories and through a window."

"That suits her nature," I agreed, laughing. "When are you coming home?"

"Now," he replied, and cut the connection.

I closed the little cell phone, and turned to Rosalie to recount the story. I left out the little loving jests, like the one about voices pulling people out of blackouts, but generally told her the conversation that my husband and I had had.

"When is Emmett coming back?" she asked, eyes alight. I smiled to myself, and made a show of looking at my watch.

"I'd say about...NOW!" Just in time, the doorbell rang. Rosalie and I grinned at each other, then sprinted to the door. We reached it at the same time, yanking it open to see our husbands. Jasper and Alice were also standing there, and rolling his eyes at our impatience, pulled Alice past me into the house, where they wouldn't have to witness our welcome scene. On cue, Rosalie and I jumped into our lovers' arms at the same time. Carlisle hugged me back, happily.

"Welcome home," I murmured into his ear.


	23. Chapter 23

After a few hours of time on our own (Rose and Emmett had gone upstairs as well-to do what, I really don't think I want to know), Alice was banging on the door.

"Carlisle!" she cried. "Renee, Bella's mom, is going to be at the hospital in approximately twenty-four minutes to meet you. And then Bella will wake up tomorrow, make sure to tell Edward that." I smiled, and gave Carlisle one more hug.

"See you later," I said. He kissed the top of my head, then slid out of the bed. I grabbed a book, and started to read, not bothering to get out of bed. I saw Carlisle, fully clothed, leaving the room, and a few seconds later, I heard the car pulling out of our driveway, and racing away to the hospital. I clothed myself, then headed out to work on design plans. Alice hadn't seen any visions of Edward and Bella getting married, but it still might happen. So I had decided to begin building a house, or more of a cottage, to be exact.

Seeing my decision, Alice nudged my shoulder.

"You know it's not just because of that. You know you love to renovate," she laughed. I grinned back. Alice knew me only too well. I bent over the blueprints that I had spread out in front of me, thinking about the best way to fix it up for Edward and Bella.

"Don't forget a closet. I want to stock it," Alice quipped, leaning over my shoulder. I shot a glance at her.

"But Alice," I whined, "It's a _cottage_. A giant closet would be completely ignoring the proportions!" She looked at my pleading face, a little smirk on her lips.

"Too bad, Esme," she told me. "We can put it on the edge, so that it wouldn't throw the rest of the proportions out of place. Plus, I've already seen you giving in." At the last sentence, Alice's grin grew wider, and she began hopping up and down, unable to help herself. I rolled my eyes. Alice laughed, seeing what I was about to say, but I said it anyways.

"And you say I love to renovate. What about your own inclination to shop?" Alice rolled her eyes, then they suddenly glazed over. I held my breath,, hoping it wasn't anything bad. But a second later, Alice's eyes focused again, and she squealed.

"Speaking of which, I'm going shopping. Bella needs a dress, and some makeup. Edward's taking Bella to the prom!" she giggled, and bounced out the door. I stared after her, unable to help my smile. My family was insane.

We were all vampires.

Alice could see the future.

Edward could read minds.

Jasper was empathic.

Carlisle was a doctor.

Edward fell in love with a human, and he was taking her to the human _prom._

How completely insane.

* * *

That night, Carlisle came back from the hospital, looking happy.

"Esme," he greeted me, giving me a hug and a quick kiss. I smiled at him, happy now that he was home. Carlisle grinned back at me.

"Alice told you, didn't she?" I asked, guessing at the reason for his happiness. Carlisle's smile only got wider.

"Depends on which article of information you're talking about. She told me that Bella's going to wake up tomorrow, and she told me that Edward's taking her to the prom. But she didn't tell me about this. What's the renovation for?" Carlisle gestured towards the blueprints, house books, and supplies scattered around the room. I smiled, kissing him again quickly.

"Oh, I was hunting, and I found this beautiful cottage. It's a very enchanting place, and I thought that it would be perfect for Edward and Bella if they get married. They could be not too close, and not too far." Carlisle smiled at me, and brushed a strand of hair out of my face. I smiled, and closed my eyes at the sensation. His arms were still around my waist, and mine around his neck.

"Not to mention your love for renovating," Carlisl teased, smiling lovingly at me. I smiled back, staring into his honey golden eyes.

"Esme!" Alice's voice chirped, coming from the garage. Carlisle and I turned to look at the distraction. Alice glared pointedly at the mess of books and blueprints.

"Bella's going to be here all day tomorrow. Since the night is...erm...not a prime time for working on cleaning it up," I looked at Carlisle sheepishly, who returned my glance, looking as abashed as me. "Then you should probably get it out of the way now so that Bella doesn't suspect anything." I nodded, knowing that there was no way I'd be able to contradict the pyschic. Alice turned, and left the room just as Jasper came in. He looked at me and Carlisle, and smiled.

"Hi, Carlisle, Esme," was his greeeting. I smiled back, and watched him follow Alice's back out of the room. Jasper was lugging several giant plastic bags, results of Alice's shopping trip. I sighed, disentangling myself from my husband's embrace. I looked up at him again, and sighed.

"I suppose I have to clean up a bit, according to Alice," I said. Carlisle smiled at me.

"I'll help you," he told me. "Four hands work faster than two, even at vampire speed." We grinned at each other, and quickly cleaned up the mess, before heading upstairs. Carlisle headed into his office, and I could hear a medical book pulled out of the shelf and dropped onto the mahogany desk with a loud _thunk_. I went into our bedroom, and pulled out a good home renovating book. In Alice and Jasper's room, I could hear Alice commanding Jasper where to put all the makeup, hair, and beauty supplies. I smiled to myself, shaking my head sympathetically.

Poor Bella.


	24. Chapter 24

**Sorry for the wait.**

* * *

It turned out, my fears were correct. Bella entered the house happy and cheerful, probably from Edward, and she left the house grumpy and exasperated. Alice refused to answer her questions about where she was being taken. When Alice paraded her in front of me, I couldn't help being slightly stunned by her appearance.

"You look gorgeous, honey," I told her, rushing forward and wrapping her into a warm embrace, being careful of all her makeup.

"Watch out for her makeup, Esme!" Alice sqealed, as though I actually needed the warning, I ignored her, looking back at Bella.

"Edward's going to be stunned when he sees you," I told Bella gently. At the mention of her boyfriend, Bella's face brightened slightly, and I smiled back at her. As though in perfect timing, I heard Edward's car pull up in the garage. Alice heard it too, and her head shot up. Automatically, Bella followed our gaze, even though there was no way that she could have heard Edward's car.

"Edward's here!" Alice squealed, causing Bella's face to brighten even more than it already had. _You're going to love this, Edward,_ I told him in my head. _She looks so gorgeous, even to my eyes, and I'm not her boyfriend._

"She always has been," I heard Edward mutter under his breath, so low that only I could hear it. I chuckled mentally. _You two are perfect for each other, _I told my son honestly. _I'm so glad you found her._ Alice grabbed Bella's elbow and began pulling her to the garage door. Bella hurried to catch up, seeing as she had a walking cast on. She didn't even look back at me and she rushed as fast as she could towards Edward.

"Bye, Bella," I called, careful not to give away any hint as to where they were taking her.

"Bye," I heard. I smiled, and stood, watching the door. The door opened just before Alice reached it, with Bella tagging somewhat behind.

"Edward, she's all yours," Alice told him, smirking. He didn't even respond at all towards her, his eyes were so fixed on Bella. Likewise, hers were on him as well. I heard both their sharp intakes of breath as they saw each other.

"Bella," Edward breathed, stepping over to his girlfriend. "You look gorgeous."

"Hey, Edward. And thanks." she replied, her voice breathless and slightly shaky as Edward wrapped his arms around her. The couple didn't seem to be aware of the two of us watching as my son leaned down to Bella's face for a kiss. She responded with fervor, until Edward retrained her face and pulled back. He smiled at her blushing face.

"Let's go, Bella," Edward murmured to her, smiling tenderly at her. Alice waved, and so did I. Bella waved at Alice, and Edward at me. _You two are perfect for each other_, I told my son again when our eyes met. Edward smiled at me, and leaned down to whisper something into Bella's ear. With my vampire hearing, I heard every ounce of love that he put into the three words.

"I love you."

Bella blushed, and smiled up at Edward. Edward returned the smile, and ushered her to the car without saying a word about where she was being taken. Bella crossed her arms over her chest, and huffed, digging her heels into the ground where she stood.

"I'm not going to move until you tell me where you're taking me, Edward. And trying to dazzle me into it won't work this time." Edward simply chuckled, and picked her up. With her protesting, he easily carried her out into the garage. I chuckled to myself, and headed up the stairs to wait before my husband, for one, came home from work, and for two, my son came back from his prom night with Bella.

As it turned out, the former occurred before the latter. I heard his footsteps from the driveway, and instantly reconized them as belonging to my husband. I looked up from the book I was reading, and turned to the door, looking at it expectantly. After a few seconds, it opened, and Carlisle walked in. His face broke into a smile in the sixty-fourth of a second that it took him to realize that I was there.

"Hello, Esme," he murmured, rushing over to me and engulfing me in a hug. "I love you."

"I love you, too," I told him. Just then, we heard a faint hello coming from upstairs, in Alice's trilling chimes. Seconds later, she was rushing down the stairs, Jasper in tow.

"We're off to the prom now bye!" she chimed, so quickly that it seemed like one sentence. Carlisle waved with one hand, not removing the other from my waist. When Alice and Jasper were out of hearing range, he looked at me, and I saw the undisguised love in his eyes.

"Now that the youngsters are out having fun ," he murmured to me, using the name for Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and now Bella that we'd come up with as a joke. I watched as his eyes turned a beautiful dark golden color. "What do you say that we have a fun time of our own?"

I didn't reply, I simply streched up and kissing my husband as hard as possible. He must have absorbed some of Alice's power in all the time that they spent together, because as it turned out, we did have an amazing night.


	25. Chapter 25

**Well, the last chapter was the last one of Twilight. But, now I'm going to move onto New Moon, in this same story. Here's the next chapter:**

Alice was bouncing with excitement as she swirled around the room, putting the last finishing touches on the decorations for Bella's party. I helped, and although I wasn't as overly enthusiastic as Alice was, this was still a big event for our family. It was Bella's birthday, and Bella was practically like a daughter to all of us.

Well, except Rosalie. But Rosalie was the least of our concerns today.

"And she made up so many excuses to try to avoid coming here!" Alice's chirping voice interrupted my thoughts. Her trilling laugh rang through the room. "Can you believe it? She said she had to watch _Romeo and Juliet _for one of her classes! Seriously, you wouldn't believe how many times she's read that book. Personally, I don't find anything special about it. It describes two humans, pathetically in love. Of all things!" Alice snorted, turnig up her nose in disdain. I smiled at her, knowing how pathethic she thought human love was. Well, except for Bella's love for Edward. But like Rosalie's thing against Bella, a discussion of how vampire love is stronger than human love can wait.

"How long until they get here?" I asked. Alice stilled, and her face gained a look of concentration.

"Only a few minutes, Esme," she chirped, then flew back into her decorations. Sure enough, a few minutes later, we could hear Edward and Bella approaching the door. Alice silently jumped up and down, a happy grin on her face. From inside the house, I could hear Edward, laughing cheerfully at something Bella had said. I smiled ot myself, thinking about how much of a difference Bella ahd made to his life. I heard the door open, and got ready. As Bella walked into the room, a chorus of voices rang out.

"Happy Birthday, Bella!" Predictably, she blushed, looking at her toes. My son came up behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist and giving her a quick kiss on the top of her head. I walked over to Bella, and gave her a gentle hug. Carlisle came up as well, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Sorry, Bella. We couldn't reign Alice in," he teased in a whisper.

Rosalie was here, as well. She didn't glare, but she didn't smile, either. Emmett, however, was grinning.

"You haven't changed at all. I expected a perceptible difference, but here you are, red-faced as always." he teased.

"Thanks a lot, Emmet," she replied as her face reddened even more. He laughed cheerfully.

"I have to step out for a second," he winked at Alice, putting the plan that we had in action. "Don't do anything funny while I'm gone,"

"I'll try."

Jasper leaned against the post at the bottom of the stairs, while alice skipped forward.

"Time to open presents!" she declared loudly, tugging Bella by her elbow over to the table with the cake and wrapped gifts. Bella quickly put on a self-sacrificing face.

"Alice, I know I told you I didn't want anything-" she began, but Alice interrupted.

"But I didn't listen. Open it!" Alice pulled the camera from her hands, which was probably a good idea, seeing as Bella would likely drop it soon, anyway. Instead of it, Alice inserted the box containing the box for her car stereo. Quickly, Bella yanked the paper off, and stared at the empty box. She opened it, and saw that there was nothing inside.

"Um...thanks." We all grinned, even Rosalie. Jasper laughed.

"It's a stereo for your truck," he explained. "Emmett's installing it right now, so that you can't return it." Now that Bella understood what the present was, she grnned.

"Thanks, Jasper, Rosalie," she said. "Thanks Emmett!" she added. We could all hear him laugh outside.

"Open mine and Edward's next," Alice chirped excitedly. When it came to parties, she was like a little girl in her enthusiasm. She held out the box, but Bella turned to glare at Edward.

"You promised!" She complained. Emmett kicked the door down, and rushed to stand behind Jasper.

"Just in time!" he crowed happily.

"I didn't spend a dime," Edward promised, brushing a strand of hair back from her face. Bella sighed, and held her hand out to Alice.

"Give it to me," she murmured. Alice handed her the box, and she jerked her finger under the tape. "Shoot," she muttered, pulling her finger out. I could suddenly smell her blood, but locked my muscles in place, refusing by sheer will to move.

"No!" my son roared, throwing himself at Bella, flinging her back over the table. He spun quickly, blocking Jasper's lunge. Jasper growled, focusing on Bella. Emmett quickly grabbed Jasper's arms, preventing him from moving. Suddenly, the potent smell of blood became much stronger, and my mouth watered, my eyes instinctively finding the source. As Bella had fallen, she had gotten a cut on her arm, running from her wrist to her elbow. I stopped breathing, simply staring at her, and using every muscle to restrain myself from lunging.

I'd forgotten how addicting human blood was.

* * *

**So? Whacha think? Tell me, please! Review!**


	26. Author's Note

**I'm so very sorry, my dear readers, that this isn't another chapter! If you would like to review the next chapter that is published, then don't review on this, please - I'm just going to replace this Author's Note with the actual chapter.**

**Again, I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating on this! I feel like I haven't updated enough and lost my inspiration, so I'm going to take a break on this story for a bit. This notice will be posted on more than one of my in-progress stories.**

**This "break" will hopefully not be long, but you never know...just don't think that I died or something, lol!**

**~dogsrplayful**


End file.
